In this case, trust the artist, not the $3,000 check that she noticed had been drawn on the account of a possibly unsuspecting third party somewhere in New York.Pepper Pike Police Department

A local artist reported Oct. 1 that she may have been a victim of a fraud scheme, although she actually received money from the crooks in the process. She told police a buyer through social media had set up a deal to pay $500 for one of her works.

But the check she got was for $3,000, and she was instructed to send $2,500 back to the purchaser. In many cases, a large check winds up bouncing in the victim’s account after sending much of it back to the scammer, believed to be in New York.

This time, the whole check deposited into her account, but she noticed the name on the check didn’t match that of the “buyer” purported to be on the other end of the social media accounts, from which the suspects had immediately blocked her from any further contact.

Concerned that she might be contacted by authorities in New York on behalf of the person who could have had a personal check of theirs stolen or altered, she went to Pepper Pike police, who worked with the bank to get the check sent back to where it belonged in New York, with the investigation turned over to banks and police there.

A Shaker Heights woman reported around 1 p.m. Oct. 3 that as she was driving eastbound near Kersdale Road, the rear passenger window in her Honda Pilot shattered for no apparent reason. She drove straight to the police station and no object or projectile could be found in the car, with officers also noting there did not appear to be landscapers in the area or any activity that may have kicked up a rock.

Damage to property: Kersdale Road

A resident reported at 8 p.m. Oct. 3 that a car had struck their mailbox. Police said the property owner and the driver were settling the matter privately between themselves.

Police and firefighters responded at 6 p.m. Oct. 4 to a 2003 Ford F-250 pickup truck that had caught fire in the northbound lanes of the freeway. No injuries were reported, and the fire did not spread to a trailer carrying generators.

Police initially responded to the New Directions residential drug treatment facility Oct. 1 for a report of a patient who had walked away from treatment. But because the Perry man, 18, was no longer a juvenile, police explained to staff that they could not charge him for unruliness, a status offense in Ohio. Therefore any subsequent searches for him were called off.

Damage to property: Lander Circle

A Pepper Pike police car was damaged at the Waterway car wash on Oct. 4 when the rear window wiper blade was knocked off the Ford Explorer.

Disabled motor vehicle, fictitious license plates, driving under suspension: Fairmount Boulevard

Police responded Oct. 3 to an initial report of a Jeep Patriot that broke down and found that the plates appeared to be expired before determining that the tags actually belonged to a different plate. For that matter, the driver, a Euclid woman, 31, had a suspended license. She was cited and then dropped off at a friend’s house in Beachwood.

Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.

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